Attorney Robert Cole failed to pay a court reporting service, Gwendolyn Parker, Inc., for the transcripts of two depositions. The Court of Appeals affirmed judgment in favor of the court reporter. Cole argued that Tex. Gov’t Code § 52.059 only allowed individual court reporters to sue for their fees, but the Court rejected that argument. Under that statute, the attorney who takes the deposition and his firm are jointly and severally liable for the court reporter’s charges unless other arrangements are stated on the record. Because nothing in the language of the statute limits the payment obligation to individual court reporters, Cole could not escape from his statutory liability to GPI. The Court also held that Cole could not prevail on the affirmative defense of failure of consideration or a counterclaim for damages because the record did not show that he pleaded either matter in response to the court reporter’s suit.

With less than two weeks to go in office, Governor Perry is continuing to fill vacancies across the state. Yesterday, that included appointments to the Second and Third Courts of Appeals, plus the appointment of David Schenck to serve as a Justice of the Fifth Court of Appeals through the 2016 election cycle. Schenck will replace Justice Michael O’Neill, who has served on the Court since first being elected in 1998. Welcome to Justice Schenck, and best wishes to Justice O’Neill in his retirement.

Tuesday was a busy day for the Court of Appeals, which issued half a dozen new opinions we’ll be posting about soon. While we’re getting them written up for full posts, the cases are already on the site at the following links:

There will be two new justices taking the bench at the Dallas Court of Appeals starting in January, and last night’s election determined who they will be. In Place 2, David Evans — former judge of Dallas County’s 193rd District Court — won his election to replace the retiring Justice Joe Morris. In Place 9, former prosecutor David Lewis will replace Justice Martin Richter, whom he defeated in the May primary election. Congratulations to both of the incoming justices, as well as to Justices Jim Moseley, Douglas Lang, and Bob Fillmore for being re-elected to their own seats.